CORVALLIS — If there is a very-audible buzz of excitement (cue the vuvuzelas) around the Oregon State football program as preseason practice begins, coach Mike Riley is putting his hands over his ears.

Players report on Sunday, and the preparation for the 2010 season begins at 2 p.m. Monday on Prothro Field with a no-pads workout.

Returning wide receiver James Rodgers, who caught a school-record 91 passes last season, has told teammates he has never felt more confident.

Departed linebacker Keaton Kristick, who is currently trying to crack the roster of the San Francisco 49ers, thinks the Beavers could have “a special team’’ even with a rookie quarterback (Ryan Katz) running the show on offense.

Picked to finish third in the Pacific 10 Conference race behind Oregon and USC, a lot of the Beavers — who will be featured on ESPN in their season opener Sept. 4 against Texas Christian — are talking like championship contenders, as they should.

After all, this program has been one win away from playing in the Rose Bowl for two years running and this might be a year when any one of four or five teams could take the conference title.

“Why not us?’’ agreed Riley.

But when the coach sat down with media members Tuesday at the Valley Center for a preseason briefing, he quickly qualified any early-August Rose Bowl chatter.

“You’re talking to a very conservative person,’’ said Riley.

“I’m going to wait and see. … let's work real hard and see how that first practice goes.’’

Riley said the TCU game at Cowboys Stadium will tell him a lot about the 2010 team’s character and personality, win or lose.

“You’ll be hardened. You will know who you are,’’ said Riley.

“Then it’s a matter of who gets better as the season goes on," he said, because he predicts the Pac-10 race "is going to go down to the wire."

In a profession where the pressure to win can become unbearable and cause coaches to seek medical leave of absences, or quit altogether (Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson), Riley seems to embrace jumping back into the meat grinder each year — without any noticeable spike in his blood pressure.

He has been in the profession for 35 years, starting from the time he was a graduate assistant at California in 1975.

This is Riley’s 10th year at Oregon State, and if the job has beaten him down, there is no evidence of it. He looked tanned, and rested, and excited.

“Every team is different. There’s new faces. Guys have progressed and matured. There’s always a freshness about it. There’s always something about opening day, the opening talk with your team … it’s always new.’’

The Beavers do not have a high national profile, although they have a 5-foot-7 tailback who is almost famous in Jacquizz Rodgers.

While other programs seem to scream “look at me!’’ for what they’ve done on (and sometimes off) the field, Oregon State football has quietly put together four straight winning seasons, two straight runner-up finishers in the Pac-10 and gone bowling nine times in 11 years.

OSU was 80-46 (.630) in the last decade, compared to 29-81-1 (.260) during the 1990s and 22-85-4 (.210) in the 1980s.

The earth doesn’t necessarily shake on Reser Stadium Saturdays, and the Beavers almost never are the lead story on ESPN’s “SportsCenter’’ but one prominent college football analyst said that isn’t necessarily fair.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who was part of a teleconference call Tuesday promoting the OSU-TCU game, proclaimed that, “the most under-valued and under-appreciated head coach and football program in the United States is Oregon State. … I think the (TCU game) is a great opportunity for them to gain a higher profile, it’s a chance for them to show they deserve to be up there with the elite teams in the country.’’

Riley’s program is known for being fearless in its scheduling. He laughs at the suggestion he has gone above and beyond with a September lineup of TCU, Louisville, and Boise State.

TCU and Boise State could be top-five teams in the first Associated Press poll.

And Riley points out the obvious, “that we haven’t had much of a reputation as a fast-starting team.

“The chore is big in front of us. We’ll have to play a great game early to win it (at Cowboys Stadium). There’s no doubt this is a heck of a baptism for Ryan Katz.’’

Notes: Riley said the whirlwind Pac-10 media tour last week that took him to New York City, ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., and then the Rose Bowl was “a blast’’ and “got the juices flowing’’ for camp. … longtime friends, Patterson and Riley took turns complimenting each other during the teleconference call. TCU (with 16 starters back, including star quarterback Andy Dalton) will be favored and is considered an outside shot to play in the BCS championship game, but Patterson almost sounded like the underdog. “First games are always (unpredictable),’’ said Patterson, who said he would put OSU in the top 15 pre-season. “You never know what kind of team you’re going to have.’’ … asked if the Horned Frogs have an advantage with OSU playing a first-year quarterback, Patterson said, “you’ve got to go play. We already know Oregon State is coming in here with a chip on its shoulder. They’re kind of like us, every year trying to prove they belong, every year trying to keep climbing the mountain. … if we don’t play well, it won’t matter which quarterback they bring in, we’re going to get beat.’’